Top 50 Soccer Salary Earners: How Are They Rated?

Pin It Now! I used to think that no one could never earn a salary of up to ₤100,000 per week, without having to the break the bank; but the recent publishing of the list of the top 50 earners in soccer, by futebol finance has proved me not only to be wrong but also ignorant.

“I wish I were a professional footballer”, I mused, when I saw the list. The gap between the rich (super rich) and the poor is in thousands of kilometers. Some people are living in opulence while others live in abject penury. Why this huge difference? Some people actually live below the poverty line, earning lower than one dollar per day. This is both tragic and unfortunate.

The list shows that Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) earns a whooping ₤11.3m per annum, while Zlatam Ibrahimovic (FC Barcelona) earns ₤10.4m; Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) ₤9.1m, Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale Milan) ₤9.1m, and Kaka (Real Madrid) ₤8.7m. Others are Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City) ₤7.4m, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) ₤7.4m, Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) ₤7m, John Terry (Chelsea) ₤6.5m, and Frank Lampard (Chelsea) ₤6.5. These make up the top 10 soccer salary earners in the world.

Others that make up the first 20 earners include: Thierry Henry (FC Barcelona) ₤6.5m, Xavi (FC Barcelona) ₤6.5m, Ronaldinho Gaucho (AC Milan) ₤6.5m, Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) ₤6.5m, Daniel Alves (FC Barcelona) ₤6.1m, Michael Ballack (Chelsea) ₤5.6m, Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) ₤5.6, Raul Gonzalez (Real Madrid) ₤5.6m, Kolo Toure (Manchester City) ₤5.6m and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) ₤5.2.

Joining to make the list of the top 30 earners include: (Manchester City) ₤5.2m, Iker Cassilas (Real Madrid) ₤5.2m, Victor Valdez (FC Barcelona) ₤5.2m, Frederic Kanoute (Servilla) ₤5.2m, Deco (Chelsea) ₤5.2m, Didier Drogba (Chelsea) ₤4.8m,, Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) ₤4.8m, Francesco Totti (AS Rorna) ₤4.8m, Luca Toni (AS Roma) and David Villa (Valencia) ₤4.8m.

Also included in the top 40 are: Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) ₤4.8m; Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) ₤4.8m, Ashley Cole (Chelsea) ₤4.8m, Fernando Torres (Liverpool) ₤4.8m, Gareth Barry (Manchester City) ₤4.8m, Patrick Vieira (Internazionale Milan) ₤4.8m, Charles Puyol (FC Barcelona) ₤4.3m, Andreas Iniesta (FC Barcelona) ₤4.3m, Sergio Aguero (Athletico Madrid) ₤4.3m and Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan) ₤4.3m.

In addition, the following players make up the top 50 salary earners’ list Joe Cole (Chelsea) ₤4.3m, Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich) ₤4.3m, David Beckham (AC Milan) ₤4.3m, Wayne Bridge (Manchester City) ₤4.3m, Lassana Diara (Real Madrid) ₤4.3m, Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) ₤4.1m, Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal) ₤4.1m, Nicholas Anelka (Chelsea) ₤4.1m, Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) ₤4.1m and Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) ₤4.1m.

Surprisingly, players like Adebayor Emmanuel, Carlos Tevez, Karim Benzema and Frank Lampard all came before Wayne Rooney (Number 20), who is arguably one of the hottest strikers in the world right now. Players like Miroslav Klose, Gonzalo Higuain, Jermain Defoe, Michael Essien, Luiz Nazario De Lima (Ronaldo), Canavalho, Edwin Van Der Sar, Diego Forlan and two-time African footballer of the year, El Haji Diouf did not make the list.

The question now is, what are the criteria for making the list? I do not think that it is only based on performance; otherwise Karim Benzema that couldn’t make the French team to the world cup should not be there. I also carefully observed that no Asian player or North American player was on the list. Africa however was lucky to have 5 players on the list. The bulk of players are from the English Premiership (21), Spanish La Liga (17), Italian Seria A (9) and German Bundesliga (3), while Chelsea and FC Barcelona each has 8 players, Real Madrid and Manchester City each has 6; Manchester United 4, AC Milan and Bayern Munich (3 each), Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool and AS Roma (2 each), while Arsenal, Servilla, Athletico Madrid and Valencia all have a player each.

One of the factors to be considered here is the player’s manager; when a player has a good manager who is knowledgeable in the negotiation of contract, he is likely to get a better deal. If the player is well advertised or marketed by the club and the media, his value will definitely increase and so he gets a better contract deal. His current club side also plays a role in his contract negotiation; those who are in the big clubs are getting the chunk of the deal – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, etc.

Finally, the Europeans and the South Americans seem to have a better market value, especially as they help to pull more spectators to the stadiums, and are also used for product advertisements. Nevertheless, I feel those who have skill to entertain the fans and as well produce positive results for the club sides should be considered for better salaries.

Top 50 Soccer Salary Earners: How Are They Rated?